The most interesting thing I learned was how a bolt or stud actually works... when the parts are clamped together, it removes all external forces meaning the bolts themselves only ever "feel" the stress from being torqued down; for example the pressure of combustion trying to push up on a cylinder head won't put any more force on the head bolts/studs than they are already under UNLESS they aren't torqued far enough or something happens that allows some of that clamping force to go away (failed gaskets, heat cycling).
Hope all that rambling helped at least a little bit LOL
